We say "no thanks" to "deafhood" because we recognized right away such labeling would lead to acts of discrimination and segregation. Even threats of violence if one disagrees. It has simply become a glorified ideology specifically and mainly for culturally deaf people, and nothing more.
That's the problem.
It's not really about for anybody with hearing loss when it comes to a personal journey. There's a certain sine qua non when it comes to "deafhood."
We don't presume who has "deafhood" and who doesn't, and that was the trap many people recognized at the very beginning.
We don't figure out whether if a person is "deaf centric" or not in private meetings to see whether or not a person meets their main criteria. That's called "looking at a person's label on his shirt" behind him instead of looking at the person for who he is.
We prefer to move forward and not backward and would rather follow ICED recommendation to accept and respect ALL forms of communication and language whether combined or used alone be it PSE, ASL, SEE, cued speech, oral-aural, oral, the use of hearing aids and cochlear implants to help with the communication, or plainly just do without them. In fact, we have respected and accepted those differences since day one even before ICED came out with their own recommendation.
This is about accepting a person for who she/he is and not about what the person is when labels are concerned.
You cannot force or fool a person's own personal journey in order to align it with your own journey. Otherwise it'd be a description of selfishness and dishonesty.
Think for yourself.
Embrace diversity and everybody else for their uniqueness on their hearing loss and how they live their life with culturally deaf, deaf, hard of hearing and hearing people and the respect and acceptance for all forms of communication and language. And be open with everyone.
Or...
Embrace conformity based on requirements, norms, memberships, restrictions, and expectations that people expect from you as a closed group.
A simple test here.
Watch what happens when you say, "No thanks," and see how certain people respond. Instead of acknowledging your personal decision on what you want to do with your life and how you spend it you will be attacked for your decision because they have lost their ability to own you, (see below as an example):
Four days later seemingly upset or mad he made a vlog on June 9th "Where is our money going?" raising a ruckus about why $656 (of fake Monopoly money) was going to an "unworthy" organization and how dare they use "our" money for that (Whose money again?? "Our"? Quite presumptuous, ain't it?) so-called organization.Your money is your money and not "their money." It is your personal decision on how you see fit to spend YOUR money. It is not their decision. And if they get angry about your decision then that's a red flag on something wrong with that picture.
Remember, your life's journey is a deeply personal one. No one should tell you how you must live your life. You shouldn't be made to feel guilty on what you do with your life or even how you wish to spend YOUR money.
You have two books that addresses a life's journey. You have a choice. An important choice. Embrace one book and burn the other book in an incinerator. You cannot have both books since they are not mutually compatible.
I *know* which book I want.
